CS4 is an incredible software suite, I have Photoshop CS4 on my laptop and have the CS3 MC on my G5. That's a great deal and it's great that your switch has started off so well, but... I dunno. Unless someone just had one laying around and absolutely had to get rid of it, I'd be a bit wary of offers like that.

Little Snitch? Oh boy... it's as bad as I originally thought. Well, I think it's pretty clear that you were the unwilling recipient of already-used software with an already-used license.

You're absolutely positive that you received the original retail box AND the serial key... right? Somebody didn't just hand you a jewel case with "ADOBE CS4" written on it with a Sharpie? The serial key is printed on an authentic sticker, not written on a post-it note?

If the guy installed it for you and you weren't watching over his shoulder, I think just the presence of the "Little Snitch" program alone gives the impression that you got ripped off. The fact that it was sold at 10% of the retail price is just one more nail in the coffin.

Would you mind taking pictures of everything you bought and uploading them?

Yeah, unfortunately I have to agree with Luftwaffle, particularly after reading in various places what a hotbed of piracy Craigslist ads commonly are commonly!

To the OP- can you REALLY think of a reason that a person would sell you a genuine $1500 software package for $145 (or your purchase price of $110 as you later said)-- and throw in a $400 copy of Office 2008 for Mac for the heck of it? I know it is an OLD cliche, but if something strikes you as being too good to be true it most likely is- and that is particularly true when it comes to software since duping it and providing bogus or used product activation keys is so easy. I'll bet if you keep an eye on the ads you will find the same seller offering other similar deals again soon (if not now).

Not to throw cold water on it, but unless you got the ORIGINAL disks (not burned copies of them- look at the backside and the label) with the original case with the attached Adobe printed product key #s (not some numbers generated by a hacker's key generation program in an email or in a printout) then you paid for something the less than honorable would download free via torrent. And even if they are all real, I'm sure that if you tried to activate the software with the provided keys that you would find that it is already activated elsewhere- thus the included Little Snitch to keep it from "phoning home" to check authenticity while checking for updates to the programs.

Honestly I would love to think you got the deal of a lifetime on some software that the person did not realize was worth so much- but that is stretching my imagination beyond its limits sad to say after reading many similar threads in the past few months. Please don't take this as a criticism of you BTW-- rather I just hate the people that take advantage of new users in particular.

While it is marketed from a slightly different standpoint, it is a common tool used to keep software from "phoning home" to check authenticity. Not everyone who purchases (or pirates ) Little Snitch is involved in piracy by any means- but on the other hand I would imagine that virtually everyone involved in piracy uses it.

There are two courses of action I would recommend taking at this point:

If the seller actually gave the OP the retail box, serial number and CDs, call Adobe and ask them to reset the license.
I've never had to do it before but I assume they would ask for the serial number, proof of purchase or some other form of retail verification. Once they reset the current activations you could easily reinstall CS4 and legitimately activate the product under your name. I don't know how airtight this plan is, but it would be a nice way of screwing over the dirty SOB who scammed you.

-OR-

If you still have the seller's contact details, call your local police and tip them off to someone selling counterfeit software. For that matter, call Adobe and tip them off. The BSA will be on them faster than white on rice.

There are two courses of action I would recommend taking at this point:

If the seller actually gave the OP the retail box, serial number and CDs, call Adobe and ask them to reset the license.
I've never had to do it before but I assume they would ask for the serial number, proof of purchase or some other form of retail verification. Once they reset the current activations you could easily reinstall CS4 and legitimately activate the product under your name. I don't know how airtight this plan is, but it would be a nice way of screwing over the dirty SOB who scammed you.

-OR-

If you still have the seller's contact details, call your local police and tip them off to someone selling counterfeit software. For that matter, call Adobe and tip them off. The BSA will be on them faster than white on rice.

Well, the entire plan really relies on the (probably correct) assumption that the scammer is an incompetent dolt. That said, I don't think it would be too hard to carry out either plan rather successfully. I hope the OP will follow one of those paths and report back to us with the awesome details.

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